• Woman who has been diagnosed as a sex addict sues a school district for failing to prevent her from having sex with male students on the school bus when she was in 11th grade.Barksdale v. Egg Harbor Township Bd. of Ed.

• Civil rights activist challenges Georgia's "stand your ground law." "By not defining what actions create a reasonable perception justifying the use of deadly force, the Act[] potentially deprives all Georgia[n]s of the right to life without due process of law." Hutchins v. Deal

• Former patient of a Rhode Island doctor sues him for featuring her in a book about drug addiction. "Plaintiff had expected, as any reasonable patient would, that her private conversations during her treatment sessions with the Defendant would remain private and confidential."Lisnoff v. Stein

• Class action alleges the YMCA deceives consumers by representing that it practices "Christian" values while allowing its gyms to be used for gay sex trysts. "YMCAs around the country ... are currently being used as brothels for cruising, with the YMCA's knowledge and implicit consent."Keister v. YMCA

• Social workers are not liable for a sexual assault on a 5-year-old boy by a 16-year-old male placed in an adoptive home. "To rule against the individual defendants in this case would definitely break new ground."Doe v. Braddy

• Student sues college for refusing to grant her the "reasonable accommodation" of a single room after she complained about her roommate's exhibitionist behavior. Blankmeyer v. Stonehill College

• School district can be sued over a guidance counselor's sexual relationship with a student who was over the age of consent. "The inherent imbalance of power between a guidance counselor in a public school and a student may render opportunistic sexual predation sufficiently shocking, even with a 'consenting' student over sixteen, to form the basis of a substantive due process claim."Doe v. Fournier

• Utah judge finds a "credible threat" that Utah County officials will prosecute a polygamist and his wives for bigamy. The officials' acts "suggest that an actual prosecution of Plaintiffs is forthcoming."Brown v. Herbert

• Louisville, Ky., strip club sues a competitor for displaying an electronic sign outside a convention center that said "Don't go to Godfathers, their girls are ugly and have crabs."The Godfather v. Trixie's Lounge

• A lawyer cannot sue two women he dated for posting derogatory comments about him on liarscheatersrus.com. "[W]hen viewed within the larger context of the website on which they were posted, there can be no doubt that a reasonable reader would understand the comments to be opinion." Coulotte v. Ryncarz

• Oglala Sioux tribe sues beer makers and Whiteclay, Neb., bars for enabling alcohol abuse on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The illegal trade in alcohol has "caused devastating injuries to the Lakota people and massive financial damages to the [tribe]."Oglala Sioux Tribe v. Schwarting

A New Jersey woman who survived a 50-foot drop from a hot-air balloon isn't just suing the manufacturer of the Cameron Balloon. She's also pointing the finger of blame at the pilot –- her own husband.

Interspousal lawsuits are rare enough outside divorce proceedings. Kathleen Long's claim alleging her husband was “negligent in the maintenance, care, operation or use” of the balloon may be the first interspousal tort involving a hot-air balloon accident.

Long suffered severe back injuries in October 2005 after getting entangled in the vent ropes of a rising balloon that she was helping her husband launch. John Long operates a Hunterdon County, N.J., balloon ride business called Flight Fantastic.

Most of the claims in a complaint filed last month are against Michigan-based Cameron Balloons. By also suing her husband, Kathleen Long may be able to recover damages from the insurer of his business, her attorney explains.

Since she was not an employee of Flight Fantastic, says Salvatore DiFazio of Flemington, N.J., “She fits the definition of a third party ... The fact that they have a marital relationship is of no consequence.”

John Long has described his wife's survival of the accident as a “miracle.” As the balloon with two passengers aboard took off, the vent ropes caught her by the ankle and hoisted her into the air.

Strong winds prevented John Long from returning to the take-off site, so he aimed for trees in the hope that his wife, who was dangling upside down, could grab onto something and untangle herself. After hitting one of the trees, she fell through the roof of a barn, landing on rotting floorboards.

The complaint alleges that Cameron's design of the balloon was defective because it “failed to include a safeguard or other mechanism to prevent someone from becoming entangled in the dangling parachute and vent lines.” Cameron claims to be the best-selling brand of hot-air balloon in the world.

According to DiFazio, the negligence claim against John Long is analogous to traffic accident cases in which one spouse alleges negligent driving by the insured spouse. “In the context of this litigation, [he] is not being sued for his qualities as a husband but for his responsibility as a pilot,” DiFazio says.

In June, a Minnesota couple whose 3-year-old son suffered brain injuries in a car accident won a $100,000 settlement from their auto insurer by having the child sue them for negligent installation of his car seat. Harrison v. Harrison, 733 N.W.2d 451.

The mother of a prostitute slain by the “Craigslist killer” at a Marriott hotel in Boston has alleged in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that the hotel's operator is liable for her daughter's death because it failed to prevent prostitution from occurring on its premises.

The Utah Supreme Court has given a boost to the battle against prescription drug abuse by ruling that medical professionals can be sued over injuries to a nonpatient that were allegedly caused by drugs they carelessly prescribed to patients.

The family of a 15-year-old girl who was killed in the crossfire of a gang shootout on a Caribbean island has asked an appeals court to reinstate a lawsuit that tests the liability of cruise ship operators for onshore injuries to passengers.

In yet another “swoon and fall” case against a church, an Illinois woman claims she was injured during a church service when a parishioner who was receiving the “spirit” fell backward, knocking several other worshippers into her.

Jurors may have opened the door to a new trial in a Maryland school bullying case by saying they returned a verdict for the defense because they were afraid of setting a bad precedent for school systems throughout the country.

The maker of Four Loko has previewed its defense of a slew of product liability lawsuits, arguing that the physical effects of the energy drink's mixture of alcohol and caffeine — far from being an undisclosed risk to consumers — are precisely what made it so popular.